Who’s on Stellantis’ leader-team?

Stellantis has chosen its leadership team for the period between Carlos Tavares’ departure yesterday and the arrival of a possibly-new chief executive in around three to seven months. Rumor has current Americans chief Antonio Filosa as the favorite for the top job, but that’s likely pure speculation and guesswork.

The Interim Executive Committee (IEC), chaired by major stockholder and board chair John Elkann, will include:

• Xavier Chéreau, HR and Heritage leader, from PSA (Peugeot)
• Ned Curic, Engineering and Technology, a recent Stellantis hire from Amazon’s Alexa Automotive
• Arnaud DeBouef, Manufacturing and Supply Chain, from PSA
• Béatrice Foucher, Planning, from PSA
• Douglas Ostermann, Finance; he is an American who  joined FCA in 2016, as Group Treasurer, and earlier worked at GM and Archer Daniels Midland.
• Maxime Picat: Purchasing, Supplier Quality, Lapmotor, China, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa, from PSA
• Philippe de Roviera: Affiliates, from PSA
• Jean-Philippe Imparato, representing the former Fiat and Peugeot brands, Design Europe, and European markets, from Fiat
• Antonio Filosa: a Fiat career leader recently put in charge of the entire North America organization as well as South America, Design North America, and Maserati Design. In 2021 he took charge of Jeep.

Notably absent is anyone who came up through the Chrysler, Dodge, Mopar, Jeep, or Ram ranks, though there is one North American and Antonio Filosa is currently in charge of Stellantis North America.

Antonio Filosa is an Italian native but “a Brazilian at heart,” with a master’s degree in engineering; he has worked in manufacturing, procurement, business development, and brand and country organization management. He worked in the United States for two years at CNH (Case New Holland) for Fiat before moving to South America, where he rose to the top. During his time in South America, he grew revenue, quality, and market share, and gained a strong reputation as a leader.

Executive vice presidents supporting this group are entirely from the European side of the house, other than Richard Palmer, who is now Special Advisor to the Chairman and a “sounding board” for the IEC.